Twilight
by Komillia
Summary: In the future, an old Melinda Halliwell unbinds the powers of the Charmed Ones' descendants. Before she knows it, demons and warlocks appear from no where trying to kill them.
1. Unbound

A spell that I use is the same Phoebe read to activate their powers in the first episode. I had to remove one line from the spell since it didn't fit into the story. Also, this fanfic takes place somewhere around 2065.  
  
  
Twilight - Chapter 1  
  
Melinda Halliwell Wyatt sipped at her tea with almost closed eyes. The hot liquid felt burning against her tongue, yet she drank it, eager to taste it's sweetness. Putting down the tea cup on the coffee table, she pushed her reading glasses up her nose. She was about to reach for her book when she heard quick footsteps from another room. A few seconds later someone was coming down the stairs in a hurry.  
  
Melinda smiled at herself, glad that her hearing hadn't become that much worse as time had passed.  
  
"Melinda, I'm going out!" a perky and cheerful called from the hall. Melinda didn't take her book, instead she picked up some keys that were lying on the table. She smiled again, got up from the couch. As she was leaving the sitting room she twirled the car keys playfully between her fingers. Upon entering the hall she saw a blonde woman in her early twenties going through her small bag.  
  
Shannah Reeves' cheerful nature was reflected in her clothes. She rarely, if not never, wore colors that made her looks anything but cheerful. The blonde nervously tucked her hair behind her ear and slowly emptied her bag in the search for something. Among the things that she put away for the moment was bubblegum, lips gloss and lip balm, a cell phone and a wallet.  
  
"I can't find my car keys," Shannah told when she in the corner of her eyes saw Melinda. Melinda stretched out her arm and held the keys right in front of Shannah's face.  
  
"You know it's bad luck to leave your keys on a table," Melinda teased. She chuckled and gave the keys to Shannah, who couldn't resist smiling.  
  
"I thought that I had lost them," Shannah said and started to put everything back in her bag.  
  
"Where are you going out tonight then?" Melinda asked and leaned slightly against the wall. "Leaving me and Sadie all alone with nothing to do on a Friday night."  
  
Shannah opened her mouth to answer, then her face expression suddenly changed, as if she had just remembered something important.  
  
"I'm going on a date with Josh," Shannah answered after a while. "And Sadie called, I forgot to tell you. She's staying at the office the entire evening. Some kind of deadline I think."  
  
"Oh... but that's okay, I'll just do some reading until Sadie comes home."  
  
Shannah looked at Melinda, knowing that Melinda disliked being left behind. She hugged the older woman, who wasn't only her friend but also her grandmother's sister.  
  
"Tomorrow we can pop some popcorn and watch those old movies of yours if you want to," Shannah suggested. Feeling happy that Shannah had noticed her dislike, Melinda hugged her back and patted her gently on her back.  
  
"We'll do that," she said and heard a car being parked on the driveway outside the manor. "I think your date is here. Looks like you didn't need your car keys at all."  
  
"I forgot that he was going to pick me up!" Shannah exclaimed when she drew back from Melinda. She slapped herself on her forehead in frustration, she had spent nearly an hour looking for the car keys before Melinda had found them. "This is so typical of me!"  
  
"Go now," Melinda urged. "He's waiting."  
  
She followed Shannah to the doorway. Once Shannah was outside Melinda stayed by the door, curious about who Shannah was going with this time. It was a typical blonde, athletic guy who Shannah greeted with a kiss on the check. He probably went to the same college as Shannah. Once he noticed Melinda standing in the doorway and greeted her.  
  
"Hello, mrs Wyatt!"  
  
Normally Melinda would get upset, she was plain sick of people   
assuming that just because she was at her age she had to be married or had been married. Everytime someone called her mrs Wyatt she had to tell them that Wyatt was her maiden name and Halliwell had been her mother's maiden name. The truth was that Melinda had never gotten married. A fact that she could live with but was reminded of every time someone called her mrs Wyatt.  
  
"Good evening, John," Melinda greeted with a sigh that no one else could hear. Shannah didn't know if Melinda called Josh John on purpose or if it was just a mistake.  
  
It was when Shannah had left with Josh that Melinda went back inside. She didn't go and read her book like she had told Shannah to do. In fact, she had never intended to. There was no one in the manor, formely called the Halliwell manor, except for Melinda. She was finally alone.  
  
Instead of going back to the sitting room, Melinda went up the stairs and to the attic. She opened the door, it was never locked. Like many other places in the manor, the attic hadn't changed much over the years. The only change had been the addition of some boxes and the removal of some other things.  
  
However, the Book of Shadows was no long at it's ordinary place.  
  
It had been hidden by Piper Halliwell and Phoebe Turner, Melinda's mother and aunt, when Melinda had been a child. She didn't remember that much about it, only that her mother used to worry a lot. What she worried about... Melinda never asked, but she guessed. It was the death of her aunt Paige, the safety of the entire Halliwell family. The Book of Shadows had been hidden and locked away, powers had been bound.  
  
It was three years ago that Melinda had moved back into the Halliwell manor, when her younger sister Beth had decided to move to Seattle with her husband. Almost a year ago Shannah Reeves and Sadie Harding had moved in because Melinda had asked them to. Living alone in such a big house was beginning to wear her out. Shannah was Beth's granddaughter. Sadie was the great granddaughter of Melinda's aunt Phoebe and was five years older than Shannah.  
  
Living with Sadie and Shannah brightened Melinda's life. One day she had been cleaning the attic and suddenly there was a wooden box she had never seen before. It hadn't taken her long to find the key and when she did... she found the Book of Shadows in the wooden box. Memories of watching her mother and her two aunts looking through the book had resurfaced then, memories of herself sneaking up late at night to find Piper and Phoebe in the middle of binding her powers. It was things that she hadn't thought about for decades. Things that she had forgotten.  
  
Now, she was sitting on the floor with the Book of Shadows in her hands. She flipped through the pages and found the page that she was looking for. Melinda had thought over things many times since she had found the Book of Shadows again. She had tried to be objective, to see things from her mother's point of view and her father's too. But she had still come to the same decision. The powers had been given to her for a reason.  
  
She took a deep breath and then started to read the spell that was written on those old pages.  
  
  
"Hear now the words of the witches,  
The secrets we hid in the night,  
The oldest of Gods are invoked here  
Great work of magic is sought.  
In this night and in this hour,  
I call upon the ancient power  
We want the power, give us the power."  
  
  
Nothing happened. She didn't feel any different from before. She had expected some sort of sensation that would confirm that the spell had worked. Melinda looked at the book, feeling disappointment starting to build up inside her. Had the spell worked? Negative thoughts had formed inside her mind. They told her that it had been too much time had passed for her to regain the powers she had as a child.  
  
* * *  
  
  
When Melinda came down the stairs the next morning she wasn't surprised that she felt the smell of coffee. She covered her mouth and yamned as she made her way into the kitchen. A fresh pot of coffee had been put on the table along with a cup that Melinda had seen practically every morning for six months.  
  
Shortly after Melinda had entered the kitchen a tall, woman in her mid-twenties came inside through the kitchen door. She had almost strawberry blonde hair that was wavy and had recently been trimmed. She wore a simple white shirt and a pair of black pants, but somehow she still looked elegant and refined. Unlike Shannah who dressed in a trendy way, she preferred to look efficient, elegant and serious. The woman wore a watch on her wrist, normally she would look at it every five minutes. But this Saturday morning was seemed to be one of the few mornings where she paid no attention to her watch. The woman caught sight on Melinda as she walked over to the kitchen table and put down the newspaper.  
  
"You're up as usual, Sadie," Melinda said and went to get a cup of coffee for herself.  
  
"If I had it my way I wouldn't be up," Sadie answered. She drank the what was left of the coffee in the cup. Then she looked at her watch and Melinda already knew what she was going to say. "I have to go to the office today."  
  
"A deadline?" Melinda guessed but already knew. Sadie nodded and put the cup in the sink in a hurry.  
  
"Yeah... I have to go now. I'll go the grocery store on my way home, so you don't have to do the shopping."  
  
"When will you get home?" Melinda asked just before Sadie left the kitchen.  
  
"Around five! I'll see you later!"  
  
Only a few seconds after she had finished the sentence, Melinda could hear the front door open and close. She sighed and shook her head. One day Sadie was going to suffer the consequences of working as much as she did. But Sadie's path to a workoholic wasn't what troubled Melinda most. It was that she had failed with the spell last night. She had thought that it would work, she had been so excited to see what would happen.  
  
[Nothing...] Melinda thought sadly. [Perhaps I didn't read it the right way or something...]  
  
She went to the refrigerator to get some milk. Sadie had opened a milk bottle for her coffee but because she had been in a hurry she had more or less tossed the milk bottle back inside the refrigerator. As soon as Melinda opened the refrigerator the bottle rolled and fell. Melinda held out her hands to catch it and gasped when she saw what had happened.  
  
The bottle was frozen in mid air.  
  
* * *  
  
"We need to get this done before Monday," Jill Watson said, putting down several folders on Sadie's desk. Sadie took the first folder and began to look through the files.  
  
"I'll have it done before I leave today," Sadie replied. She glanced at her watch and then returned to looking through the files. Jill smiled, but she looked tired. Sadie assumed that Jill had been working for several hours non stop.  
  
"Thank you so much," Jill thanked sincerely. "I'll make it up to you, I promise."  
  
Sadie returned the smile and was about to answer her when the phone rang. Sadie picked up the phone and didn't even had the time to greet the person who was calling.  
  
"Sadie, it's me," said a voice that Sadie recognized as  
Shannah's. At the same time someone called for Jill and Jill ran out from Sadie's office in a hurry.  
  
"Could you pick me up later on your way to the grocery store?" Shannah asked. Sadie noticed that Jill was on her way out.  
  
"Hold on a sec," Sadie said to Shannah. "Jill, could you close the door..."  
  
Jill was already gone and out of sight. Sadie sighed and got up to go and close the door by herself. She had just gotten up when the door was closed and all the buzzling sound from the rest of the offices was closed off. Sadie stared at the door in disbelief. The door had closed on it's own. No one passing by had closed it. Sadie hadn't opened the windows in her office either, so it couldn't be the wind that had closed the door. But she doubted her own eye sight despite doctors telling her that it was perfect. Had the door really closed itself on it's own? Impossible.  
  
"Sadie? You there?"  
  
Recovering from her shock, Sadie picked up the cordless phone and returned to talking to Shannah.  
  
"Yeah, I'm here," Sadie murmured, still standing up and staring at the door.  
  
"Are you okay?" Shannah asked. "You sound a little... weird."  
  
"I'm fine," Sadie assured without thinking. "So... you wanted me to pick you up?"  
  
* * * *  
  
As the lunch hour approached, Jill kept looking at the watch. She drummed her fingers impatiently against her desk while waiting for lunch hour to begin. As soon as the clock turned 11:30, Jill grabbed her purse and left the office. She went down all the way to the parking lot and quickly found her car since she always parked it at the same place.  
  
Flipping her red hair over her shoulder, she settled in the driver's seat and took out her cell phone from the purse. She dialed a number she knew by heart. While waiting for the person to pick up the phone, she sighed, letting out some of her frustration. The past few days had been stressful, but dealing with the stress and working was a way for her to appear more normal.  
  
[I'll be more than happy when Orlando assigns me to someone else,] Jill thought, running her hand through her already messy hair. She had to wait for almost an entire minute to pass before someone answered her call.  
  
"What do you have to report?" a smooth, male voice answered. At the sound of this voice Jill forgot all about the frustration she had felt. The voice... although spoken coldly to her, was beautiful and she could spend all day listening to it.   
  
[Orlando...]  
  
Jill blinked and got a little angry at herself for wandering off in her own little world.  
  
"Their powers have been unbound," Jill told. There was silence. For a moment she thought that Orlando was so angry that he couldn't express it in words. To her surprise, he didn't sound angry at all when he spoke again.  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"I'm positive," Jill answered. "But they don't seem to be fully aware of it, at least not all of them."  
  
"Keep an eye on them," Orlando ordered. "I'll send Roman to them later."  
  
Before Jill had the opportunity to say something, Orlando had hung up. She felt disappointed that she hadn't been able to talk a little more to him, but during the small conversations she had had with him he had managed to make all her frustration and irritation to disappear. Jill put the cell phone back into her purse and took out a hair brush instead.  
  
In the mirror she looked at herself and began to brush her hair. Then, as if it was by fate, she saw Sadie Harding in the mirror. Jill looked through the car window but lowered herself so that she wouldn't been seen. Sadie Harding was walking towards her car in a hurry. Orlando's words echoed inside Jill's head.  
  
"Keep an eye on them."  
  
Jill smiled to herself and put the hair brush away. This day was just getting better and better.  
  
* * * *  
  
Melinda looked at the apple in her hand. She stood in the kitchen, where she had returned after going to the attic to check the Book of Shadows. Shannah had wondered what Melinda was doing in the attic, but had believed her when Melinda had said that she was just looking for some old things.  
  
Melinda stared at the apple for a few seconds, then tossed it up in the air. She flicked her hands, in a way similar to the way her mother used to do it.  
  
[Freeze!] she thought, her eyes still following the apple. The apple went up, down a few inches... and stopped. Melinda circled the apple, looking at it from different angles. One could have believed that the apple hung from the ceiling. But there was no string attached to the apple, nothing. The apple had just been frozen in mid air.   
  
[Let's try this then... unfreeze.]  
  
She flicked her hands again and hardly a moment after she did, the apple fell to the floor. It bounced lightly once and then rolled off to one of the corners in the kitchen. Melinda smiled, satisfied with what she had managed to accomplish.  
  
[Wow... the spell really worked.]  
  
"What are you up to?"  
  
Melinda turned around and saw Shannah entering the kitchen. For a moment she feared that Shannah had seen what Melinda had done to the apple, but the expression on Shannah's face told otherwise. Shannah smiled towards Melinda before looking through the mail that Melinda had brought in before.  
  
"Nothing special," Melinda lied, putting on a smile on her lips. She watched Shannah look through the mail. A thought entered her mind. Was it possible for her to freeze Shannah too? It was worth a try.  
  
When Shannah turned around Melinda flicked her hands, doing exactly what she had done with the apple. But nothing happened. Shannah continued to move as she had done before. Melinda looked at her hands, puzzled. She tried again but again, nothing happened. Shannah suddenly turned around and Melinda lowered her hands.  
  
"What is it?" Shannah wondered, noticing the strange look on Melinda's face.  
  
"Nothing," Melinda answered, perhaps a little to quick. "I... was just wondering if you could go and rent a movie for me. I'd like to have something to watch tonight."  
  
"Okay..." Shannah said slowly and put down the mail on the kitchen table. She didn't look convinced. "Anything special you want me to get?"  
  
"No..." Melinda replied and shook her head. "Just... pick something that sounds good."  
  
* * * *  
  
After parking the car on the driveway Sadie quickly left the car and rushed back to the manor. She wondered briefly if she could convince Shannah to get a car of her own instead of asking Sadie to drive her all around town.  
  
Sadie opened the front door and stepped inside the manor. Shannah came down the stairs only moments afterwards. She held a small piece of paper in her hand and her purse.  
  
"What's that?" Sadie wondered, looking at the piece of paper.  
  
"It's a list of things that Melinda asked for," Shannah answered and looked at the list. "It's... herbs?"  
  
"Let's go, it's five already and we need to get home before dinner," Sadie said, not bothering to ask why Melinda who ask for herbs. Shannah nodded, put the list in her purse and then followed Sadie out of the manor. Once Sadie opened the car door she heard her cell phone ringing. She managed to answer the cell phone just a few seconds before the caller was about to hang up.  
  
Shannah got into the car, put on her seat belt and waited for Sadie to finish the call. She didn't have to wait long. Sadie hung up and sighed.  
  
"I have to get back to the office," Sadie told. She sat down in the driver's seat and closed the car door. "I just have to take a look at some things. It won't take long."  
  
Shannah nodded silently, her mind more occupied with thinking about Melinda. Melinda had behaved so strange in the kitchen before and now she was asking for herbs? Melinda had never showed any interest in herbs before. And judging by the amount Melinda wanted the herbs weren't for cooking.  
  
Once they arrived at the office building, Shannah preferred to wait in the car while Sadie went up to her office. Shannah occupied herself with playing the mini-games on Sadie's cell phone while waiting. Sadie had promised to be back in fifteen minutes but when those minutes and another twenty minutes had passed she still wasn't back. Impatient and eager to do something else than playing the mini-games, Shannah decided to go up and look for Sadie.  
  
Sadie had left the car keys, Shannah took them and locked the car before putting them in the pocket of her jacket. She started to walk towards the entrance to the office building. She hadn't left the parking lot yet when she heard a male voice calling:  
  
"Excuse me, miss!"  
  
Seeing that she was the only person in the parking lot, Shannah turned around to answer the person. A tall and broad shouldered man walked towards her. He was dressed in a black suit with a black shirt and a black tie.  
  
[He really likes colors,] Shannah commented sarcastically to herself as the man approached.  
  
"Excuse me, do you know what time it is?" the man asked politely. Shannah held up her wrist and looked at her watch.  
  
"It's 5:50 p.m. righ..." she began but didn't have to chance to finish. She glanced up briefly to see the man coming closer to her. She had to time to react, the man had grabbed both her arms and had a crushing hold on them.  
  
"Let me go!" Shannah shouted, trying to pull herself away from the man without any success. She opened her mouth to scream for help but found that it would be useless since there was no one else in the parking lot, not even near it. Everyone was in the office building and no one could hear her.  
  
The man lifted her up, then tossed her carelessly a few feet away. Shannah let out a cry in pain as her back made contact with the hard ground. She had hardly gotten the time to get up on her feet when the man approached her again.  
  
"What do you want?" Shannah asked, thinking that she could buy some time with talking. The man came closer, glaring at her with eyes that Shannah for a moment thought glowed.  
  
"Die witch!" the man hissed, the normal voice he had had before had been replaced by a very deep and demonic one. He held up his hand and punched Shannah across her face. Shannah lost her balance upon being hit by the man. Her cheek burned, she felt the pain deeply. The man raised his hand to hit her again. Shannah closed her eyes.  
  
And found herself being raised.  
  
She opened her eyes and found herself floating about six feets above the ground. Her body felt light, as if she could stay in the air forever. There was nothing holding on to her or lifting her. She was floating. Shannah felt her heart beating faster, fear entering her as she couldn't explain why she was floating.  
  
The man was equally surprised and shocked. His jaw had dropped as the punch he had delivered had hit nothing but air. In his confusion he had failed to notice someone else entering the parking lot. Sadie was walking towards her car when she caught sight on Shannah. Levitating.  
  
"Shannah?" Sadie whispered. Shannah was made aware of Sadie's presence and the man's shock. She decided to use the chance she had and kicked the man across his face as hard as she could. The kick wasn't as powerful as Shannah had wanted it to be and the man recovered quickly. He reached out both his arms to grab Shannah.  
  
Sadie stepped forth, recognizing the danger to her relative.  
  
"No!" she called and instinctively held out her arm. Pulled by an invincible force, the man was pulled off the ground. He flew across the parking lot, slamming hard into a car window. Sadie stopped, looking at her hand briefly before making her way to Shannah. Shannah slowly floated down on the ground and Sadie grabbed her hand.  
  
"Let's get out of here," Sadie said, then pulled Shannah with her as she ran back to her car. After Shannah had unlocked the car, they both threw themselves in. Sadie drove away from the parking lot as fast as she could. For once in her life she didn't care that she was almost driving faster than the law permitted her to. Once she had drove far enough from the parking lot, she glanced at Shannah.  
  
"Are you okay?" Sadie asked and then turned her eyes back on the road. Shannah nodded silently, thinking that the pain in her back would disappear eventually. "Who was that? Or more importantly, what happened back there?"  
  
"I don't know," Shannah whispered, answering both questions. Sadie looked at Shannah and saw that she still seemed to be too shocked to answer.  
  
"Let's get home first," Sadie decided. "Then we'll figure out what to do."  
  
* * * *  
  
Melinda hadn't expected Sadie and Shannah to be home so soon. She had gotten a little tired of sitting in the attic all day and had brought down the Book of Shadows downstairs to the sitting room so that she could look through it. Less than an hour after Shannah and Sadie had left to go grocery shopping, the front door opened and both Shannah and Sadie ran into the manor. They entered the sitting room immediately and Melinda had no time to hide the Book of Shadows from them. She prepared for questions about the book, but then she saw the looks on Sadie's and Shannah's faces.  
  
"What happened?" she asked.  
  
"Shannah was attacked by a man," Sadie told. She seemed more calm than Shannah. Melinda hadn't expected it to be in another way.  
  
"Attacked?" Melinda repeated, looking at Shannah.  
  
"I floated," Shannah said suddenly. "I closed my eyes and I floated!"  
  
"What?"  
  
Shannah's words had caused Melinda to become more confused. Sadie drew a deep breath and started to pace back and forth while Shannah sat down on the couch next to Melinda.  
  
"I didn't see everything," Shannah told. "I went to the office to check a few things and Shannah stayed in the car. When I came back to the parking lot there was a man and Shannah... she was like five or six feet up in the air. I don't know how but... when the man tried to attack her again, he was thrown into a car. Just like that. There was nothing throwing him and nothing that was holding Shannah up in the air. It was like..."  
  
Sadie couldn't find the right word. Shannah looked at Sadie and finished the sentence for her.  
  
"... magic."  
  
Both Sadie and Shannah looked at Melinda, expecting her to be shocked. Instead, Melinda sighed and strangely picked a flower from that vase on the table.  
  
"I should have known that something like this should happen," Melinda said. Confusion entered Shannah and even Sadie looked puzzled.  
  
"What are you talking about?" Shannah asked.  
  
"Take a look at this," Melinda simply answered. She tossed the flower up in the air. All eyes were on the flower and it began to fall to the ground. Melinda flicked her hands. The flower frooze.  
  
Sadie frowned and walked over to the flower. She waved her hand over and below the flower to assure herself that there was nothing attached to it. Once Sadie had taken a good look on the flower Melinda flicked her hands again. The flower continued to fall as if nothing had happened. Shannah stood up.  
  
"Melinda, that's creepy..." she began. "What did you do?"  
  
"I froze the flower," Melinda explained. "There's something that I need to tell you. You better sit down again."  
  
Shannah did as she was told but Sadie remained standing. Her arms were crossed and she was impatiently waiting for Melinda's explanation. Melinda cleared her throat as she flipped the pages of the Book of Shadows. She found the page with the spell that she had read last night.  
  
"You both know Paige Matthews was, right?" she wondered.  
  
"Our relative who was executed because she was a witch?" Sadie guessed. Melinda nodded.  
  
"She was my aunt," she went on. "What people don't know is that she wasn't the only witch in our family. It began with our ancestor, Melinda Warren. Ever since there have been witches in our family."  
  
"You're joking..." Shannah whispered, instantly thinking about the witch debates and people's fear of witches that she had heard so much about recently.  
  
"No, I'm not," Melinda said seriously. "My mother and my aunts were the Charmed Ones, the most powerful witches ever. When aunt Paige died, my mother and aunt Phoebe decided to bind the powers of their descendants to protect them. There have been no witches in our family ever since. But a few weeks ago... I found this."  
  
Melinda pointed at the Book of Shadows. Shannah leaned forth and looked at the spell.  
  
"That looks like some kind of spell," she commented.  
  
"It is," Melinda replied. "I read that spell yesterday. It's a spell that unbinds the powers of the descendants of the Charmed Ones, us."  
  
Sadie shook her head, she was almost smiling.  
  
"Melinda, you are aware of that this sounds like something coming from a book or a movie?" she said. "Yes, witches do exist. Everyone knows that. But that we are witches? I find that a little hard to believe."  
  
"Then how do you explain what I just did?" Melinda questioned, looking at Sadie. "That Shannah levitated? Or that it was probably you who threw Shannah's attacker against a car?"  
  
Sadie was silent. Melinda wondered if Sadie was mad at her, for unbinding powers that neither Sadie or Shannah had asked for. Melinda closed the Book of Shadows, picked it up and got up from the couch.  
  
"I'm sorry," she apologized. "When I read the spell I thought that it would only affect me. I didn't know that it was going to unlock your powers too."  
  
With that, Melinda left the sitting room and went up the stairs. Once the sounds of Melinda's footsteps had faded out, Shannah turned to Sadie.  
  
"So... what do you think about this?" she wondered. Sadie shrugged and sat down on a chair.  
  
"I don't know," she answered. "I can't answer until I know more. But it seems so unbelievable... that we actually have powers."  
  
Shannah was about to answer when the door bell rang. Smiling vaguely, she got up from the couch.  
  
"I'll get that," she volunteered. She walked to the hallway and looked into the mirror, making sure that she looked okay. Except for that her jacket was a little dirty she looked good. Shannah put her hand on the door knob and opened the front door. Her eyes widened in fear as she saw her attacker standing there. She quickly tried to close the door, but the man pushed the door open.  
  
"Sadie!" Shannah screamed as the man grabbed her and threw her into a wall. The man stepped into the manor and would have continued to approach Shannah if Sadie hadn't stepped out in the hallway.  
  
"Get away from her," Sadie hissed angrily. The flower vase that had been in the sitting room flew out in the hallway and towards the man. But before it could hit him, he grabbed the vase with one hand, stopping it. He crushed the vase with one hand. Shards of porcelain threw across the hallway and water was splashed. Sadie covered her face with her arms to protect herself from the sharp porcelain shards. In the blink of an eye the man was gone and reappeared behind Sadie. He grabbed her with both arms and threw her into the stairs.  
  
Sadie managed to stop her fall a little by reaching out her right hand. Her hand made contact with the stair and she felt a strange pain in it but if she hadn't reached out her hand then the fall would have been much more painful.  
  
Sadie looked over her shoulder to see the man coming closer to her. He held out his hand and a small sphere of light formed over it. The sphere was growing in size as seconds passed. Sadie sat up and moved a little up the stairs as she tried to think of ways to escape.  
  
Shannah got up, her back hurting after being thrown by the man twice in an hour. She sneaked up behind the man, without thinking about what she did she levitated up in the air and landed a powerful kick on the man's back.  
  
The man turned around and spotted Shannah. The sphere flew from his palm and began to quickly make it's way towards Shannah. Both Sadie and Shannah stared at the sphere in terror.  
  
Melinda came running down the stairs. As soon as she caught sight on the man, she flicked her hands. The man frooze and so did the sphere, much to Sadie's and Shannah's relief.  
  
"A warlock..." Melinda murmured as she helped Sadie up.  
  
"A warlock?" Sadie repeated, still not taking her eyes off the man. "How do you know that?"  
  
"Super strength, can charge energy balls, wears black, what more evidence do you need?" Melinda said. Both she and Sadie walked past the frozen warlock and joined Shannah's side. Shannah descended to the floor.  
  
"What do we do now?" Shannah asked. She stared at the energy ball, it had been merely inches from her when Melinda had freezed it.  
  
"Sadie, use your power to deflect the energy ball back to the warlock," Melinda told. Sadie didn't protest, even though she really had no idea how to use her powers. She began concentrate on moving the energy ball, visualizing how it would turn around and hit the warlock instead of them.  
  
Suddenly the warlock began to move again and the energy ball continued to move against them again. Sadie felt anger within herself, she was angry that she hadn't been able to do anything.  
  
Then, the energy ball made a sudden turn and headed straight back to the warlock. He didn't have the time to react as the energy ball struck him and he began to shake almost violently. Melinda, Sadie and Shannah backed off, not sure about what would happen. The warlock continued to shake and it was only after a nervous minute that he dissolved into nothing.  
  
The warlock disappeared without a trace, leaving the three women wondering if he was dead or a live. Seconds passed and nothing happened. Melinda let of a sigh of relief.  
  
"I think we vanquished him," she said to the others and saw them look relieved as well.  
  
* * * *  
  
At 11:00 p.m. Melinda, Sadie and Shannah sat in the couch, watching an old movie on TV while eating popcorn. The mess in the hallway had been cleaned up, except for Shannah's aching back and the pain in Sadie's hand they were all alright.  
  
"So... are you mad at me?" Melinda asked. She sat in the middle of the couch, between Shannah and Sadie. "For unbinding your powers... you know that you'll have to live with them for the rest of your lives."  
  
"Nah..." Shannah answered. She smiled, grabbing a fistful of popcorn from the bowl. "If you hadn't unbound our powers we'd be dead right now."  
  
"There'll probably be more warlocks after us," Melinda informed. "The world is full of them, you know."  
  
"We'll just have to be prepared and deal with them," Sadie replied, leaning her head lightly against Melinda's shoulder. "Besides... I want to learn more about this."  
  
* * * *  
  
Jill looked at the Halliwell manor while sitting in the driver's seat of her car. She had been watching the manor for hours. The lights were on and the people who lived in the house seemed to be perfectly fine. Jill was already holding the cell phone in her hands. She dialed the same number she had dialed before and waited for Orlando to answer her. This time he answered it pretty quick.  
  
"What do you have to report?"  
  
"Roman failed," Jill told. "They appear to be fine... they must have used their powers to vanquish him."  
  
"Keep me updated," Orlando replied. "Don't let them out of your sight."  
  
With that he hung up. Jill sighed at the orders he had given her. She had hoped that he would assign her to do something else. Keeping her eye on Sadie Harding and her two other relatives wasn't her idea of an exciting mission. 


	2. Merry meet

Chapter 2: Merry meet  
  
Sadie walked to the bottom of the stairs, leaning lightly against the railing. She tried to look to see if someone was coming down the stairs and sighed when she didn't see anyone.  
  
"Shannah!" she called. "I have to be at work in fifteen minutes and if you don't come down soon then I'll leave without you!"  
  
Sadie looked at her watch and then turned to Melinda who was in the sitting room. Melinda was sitting on the couch, with her goldfish bowl in front of her on the coffee table. Frowning, Sadie walked into the sitting room.  
  
"Melinda... what are you doing?" she wondered. Melinda smiled, looked at Sadie briefly before turning her eyes back to the goldfish bowl.  
  
"Watch this."  
  
Melinda flicked her hands. The goldfish had been swimming peacefully around inside the bowl. Once Melinda had flicked her hands the goldfish frooze, looking very much like the goldfish on the fish food package. Melinda flicked her hands again and the goldfish continued to swim, unaware of that it had been frozen for a few seconds. Sadie looked at Melinda, unsure of what to say.  
  
"I... don't see the point."  
  
"It's just fascinating that the goldfish frooze," Melinda told. "Perhaps if I concentrate enough, I might be able to freeze the tail only. I wonder what that would look like."  
  
Sadie shook her head and laughed. Shannah came running down the stairs with her bag, shoes and jacket in her hands. When she saw that Sadie hadn't left yet, she stopped and put on her shoes.  
  
"I'm so glad that you haven't left yet," Shannah said gratefully but didn't escape the stern look in Sadie's eyes.  
  
"I'll be late for work if we don't get going now," Sadie complained and grabbed her bag and car keys. She looked back at Melinda. "Bye Melinda!"  
  
"See ya later!" Shannah called as she followed Sadie out the door.  
  
"Drive carefully!" Melinda said to Sadie from the living room.  
  
There was really need to say that since Sadie had been driving for years and was probably the best driver in the entire family. Melinda was just about to return to freezing and unfreezing the goldfish when the phone rang. She sighed, she hated being disturbed. But she got up and walked into the kitchen to answer the phone.  
  
"This is Melinda speaking," she answered. She had stopped saying her full name when answering the phone, it was way too long.  
  
"Melinda, it's Tricia."  
  
"Tricia?"   
  
Melinda sounded both happy and surprised at the same time. Tricia was her younger sister and Shannah's grandmother. Though Melinda and Tricia had no problems getting along, for some reason phone calls and visits between them were rare.  
  
"I was wondering if I could stop by later," Tricia said. She didn't sound as happy as Melinda was. In fact, she sounded a little sad. "There's something very important that I need to discuss with you... my granddaughter."  
  
"You want to discuss Shannah?" Melinda wondered.  
  
"No," Tricia answered. "The one who's living with me... Summer."  
  
* * * *  
  
"I worked over eight hours, on a Saturday, just so you could be satisfied with it," Sadie argued while barging into the editor's office. She held a folder in her hand and once she approached the desk she slammed the folder into it. Then she crossed her arms and held up head up high while looking at the editor.  
  
"What's wrong with my article?" Sadie demanded. "I've done research, I've written, I've revised. Now tell me why you won't publish it."  
  
The editor's name was Richard Cutter. He was a middle aged man who had eaten way too many donuts in his lifetime. All he did was to take one look at the folder before he sighed, took off his reading glasses and leaned back in the chair.   
  
"Miss Harding, I'll be honest with you," Cutter began. He lit a cigarette as he spoke. It annoyed Sadie even more, she detested smoking just as much as she detested Cutter. Cutter picked up the folder, looked at it again and practically blew smoke into Sadie's face.  
  
"It's boring," Cutter went on. "No one wants to read about these kind of things in these times anymore. Have you seen how many issues we sell every time the word 'witch' is in the headline?"  
  
"The witch hunts are just as stupid as the ones in the dark ages," Sadie retorted, narrowing her eyes. She told herself to calm down and ignore the urge to use her powers to throw the lamp on the desk on Cutter. A week ago, she had had few opinions about the witch hunts. Things were different now, which made her see the witch hunts in a different way.  
  
"The public doesn't think so," Cutter answered. "They are the ones who keep this newspaper alive. Do you know that this newspaper is in the middle of being sold? The current owner wants us to increase the sales of issues. If we don't write about things that people want to read, no one will buy this newspaper and we'll all lose our jobs! Is that what you want?!"  
  
Cutter's voice had gone from tired to angry in a matter of seconds. Sadie backed, a little taken back by Cutter's sudden outburst. She frowned. Cutter must have been stressed during the last few days, but no more stressed than everyone else who worked with the newspaper.  
  
"No, of course not," she replied, sounding a lot calmer than before.  
  
"Good," Cutter muttered. He held up the folder so that Sadie could take it back. "Now... do you understand me?"  
  
All Sadie did was to take the folder and leave the office. Without a word she left and slammed the door shut. Everyone else stared briefly at her as she quickly walked into her own office. She put down the folder on her desk, walked around it and sat down on her chair. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. After a while she heard someone knocking softly on the door.  
  
"Come in," Sadie said, not even bothering to look at who it was. The door opened and revealed Jill standing there.  
  
"Sadie, I have a little problem with my computer," Jill said, smiling a little. "Could you give me some help?"  
  
Despite that she just wanted to stay in her office and do nothing, Sadie nodded and got up. She followed Jill, who didn't have an office of her own, to her desk. Jill sat down on her chair and showed Sadie what was wrong.  
  
"I don't know what I did, but all of the sudden everything that I had written was gone and..." she began. Sadie would have continued to listen to her if it hadn't been a small sound in the background. It was the sound of the elevator doors opening. Normally, Sadie would have paid no or little attention to it. But for some reason, she looked up, curious about who had come. Four people stepped out from the elevator, but only one caught her sight.  
  
It was a man, probably at the same age as Sadie and not that much taller. His skin was neither pale or tanned, but something in between. Black seemed to be his color. His hair, cut very short, along with his thick eyebrows were black. The suit, the shirt and even the shoes he wore were all black. His clothes reminded Sadie a little of the warlock that had tried to kill Shannah last week, but she pushed that thought away without any problems. The man had dark brown eyes, eyes that Sadie found herself staring into.   
  
There was only one word Sadie could think of to describe the man. Beautiful.  
  
The man took a few steps forth, followed by the other people who had been in the elevator with him. They were all dressed in business suits, they all looked boring and gray in comparision to the man in black. Jill's voice faded off. The man she had been staring at looked around the editorial office and Sadie tore her eyes away from him, thinking that she had been staring at him long enough.   
  
But she soon returned to stare him... only to find him staring back at her.  
  
She suddenly found it a little harder than usual to breathe and she tightened her fist. He was looking at her, but Sadie felt as if he had penetrated through her defences and left her unarmed. Her mind went blank and she could do nothing about to stay where she was. She tightened her fist even more.  
  
"Sadie?"  
  
Jill's voice returned and Sadie turned her eyes back to the computer screen. As Jill continued to explain what she had done with the computer, Sadie unwillingly raised her gaze a little to see if the man was still standing there. He was and their eyes met briefly again before Cutter came out from his office. This time it wasn't Sadie would looked away. Cutter and the man shook hands and began to talk, Cutter seemed surprisingly happy. The man smiled politely at Cutter's bad jokes.  
  
[Come here,] Sadie wished and found herself blushing at what she had been thinking. Once again she looked at the computer screen and tried to concentrate on what Jill was saying. But whether Sadie turned away from the man didn't matter. Her heart was still beating fast and her fists were still tightened. In the corner of her eyes she saw the man and Cutter walking away from the elevator. Just as she thought that they were going to enter Cutter's office, they made a turn and walked over to Jill's desk.  
  
"Mr Rowe, this is Jill Watson and Sadie Harding," Cutter introduced. "Ladies, this is Orlando Rowe."  
  
Jill got up from the chair and shook Orlando's hand with a smile. Orlando returned it with the same polite smile he had shown Cutter before.  
  
"Nice to meet you, miss Watson," he said to Jill. His voice... like his appearance Sadie could only describe it with the word 'beautiful'. Sadie was looking at him again now and Orlando turned to her after shaking Jill's hand. The polite looks and smiles he had exchanged with Cutter and Jill were now gone. In his eyes Sadie saw mystery, making her more curious about him.  
  
"And miss Harding..." Orlando began. "I've read your articles, I'm a big fan."  
  
They reached out their hands to shake at the same time. A shiver went through Sadie as their hands touched. She hadn't expected his hand to be so warm. Orlando's lips had curved into a small smile, one that no one but Sadie could see. He had long and slender fingers and his fingertips touched her wrist.   
  
"I never knew that I had one," Sadie replied, sounding a lot calmer than she really was.  
  
"Now you know."  
  
Orlando's fingertips stroke the palm of her hand seductively as Sadie and Orlando pulled their hands away from each other. Sadie felt disappointed inside. Strangely enough, she felt as if she was missing something when her hand lost physical contact with Orlando's.  
  
"Well then, let's continue," Cutter said. He and Orlando walked away from Jill's desk. Sadie returned to trying to listen to Jill but took every chance she had to glance at Orlando. She didn't know that he did the same thing.  
  
* * * *  
  
Shannah stood before the bulletin board, looking at the different messages that had been pinned on the board. Job offers, annoucements about classes... Shannah caught sight on a message that caught her interest. A martial arts class.  
  
[Interesting...] she thought, reading through the message as she thought. Taking a martial arts class could be useful. After being attacked by the warlock Shannah had come to the conclusion that she wasn't strong enough to defend herself, from demons or humans. She frowned as she thought of the witch hunter poster she had seen just outside campus.  
  
Taking out a notepad and a pen from her bag, she scribbled down the address of the dojo where the martial arts class would be taking place.  
  
"Hi."  
  
Shannah jumped, startled by suddenly hearing someone talking to her. She looked to her left and saw Ben, a guy from her art class, standing there. He smiled sheepishly towards her and Shannah did her best to return the smile.  
  
"Ben, you scared me," she said.  
  
"Sorry, I didn't mean to," Ben apologized and then saw what Shannah had written on her notepad. "A dojo? Do you plan on learning self-defense or something?"  
  
"Yeah," Shannah answered and put the notepad and the pen back into her bag. "You never know when it could be needed."  
  
She left out the 'against demons and warlocks' part. Ben smiled again and adjusted his bag a little. If Shannah didn't know better she would think that he was nervous.  
  
"I was wondering..." Ben began. "A friend of mine is playing at the club this Sunday. I was planning on going there with a couple of my friends, but they cancelled and I..."  
  
"I'd love to," Shannah finished, smiling. Ben's eyes lit up with happiness.  
  
"G..great..." he stammered and confirmed that he was nervous. "I'll meet you outside the club at... seven?"  
  
"Seven will be great."  
  
* * * *  
  
Later that evening Shannah told Sadie and Melinda about the witch hunter posters she had seen. They were all having dinner. Shannah did more talking than eating and Sadie added a comment now and then. Melinda was silent and she had barely touched her food but the two others were too busy talking to notice it. When Shannah finally stopped talking to take a bite of the food, Melinda put down her knife and fork.  
  
"Girls... there's something that I need to tell you."  
Sadie and Shannah stopped eating and looked at Melinda. Melinda looked a little nervous and troubled, the same way she had looked when she had told them about her unbinding their powers.  
  
"Shannah, your grandmother Tricia called me today," Melinda began. "She wanted to talk about Summer."  
  
"My cousin?" Shannah said. "I haven't seen her for years..."  
  
"Sadie, perhaps you don't know but..." Melinda sighed and sipped at her water before continuing. "Summer's parents died when she was ten. She's been living with Tricia and her husband ever since. Tricia called me today... she asked if Summer could stay with use."  
  
There was silence. Sadie looked at Melinda, shocked at first but then her usual calmness returned. She put down her fork and started to play with her napkin.  
  
"Why did she do that?" Sadie asked.  
  
"Summer hasn't been getting along with Tricia ever since she moved in," Melinda told. "Tricia thinks that it would be better for both of them if Summer could live with us, since you two are closer to her in age."  
  
"So, she's moving in?" Shannah guessed. Melinda nodded. Shannah stopped eating as well. "What about our powers? We would have to hide them from Summer."  
  
Melinda nodded. "We will have to do our best about that. We don't have full control of our powers yet, but if Summer finds out about them... I'm not sure how she'd react. I haven't seen her since she was ten and that was six years ago."  
  
"When is she moving in?" Sadie wondered. Before Melinda could answer they all heard the door bell ring. Melinda got up from the chair.  
  
"Now, I guess," she answered. Melinda quickly left the dining room to open the door. Shannah turned to Sadie.  
  
"Where will she be staying?" Shannah wondered. "There are only three rooms in this house."  
  
"She'll probably share with you," Sadie replied, smiling as she got up. "You're the one who's closest to her in age."  
  
Shannah made a face at Sadie and then followed her. They both left the dining room and went out in the hall. Melinda had already opened the door and standing on the doorstep was a woman who looked similar to Melinda, only with a smaller nose and larger eyes.  
  
"I'm sorry we're late," the woman, Tricia Reeves, apologized as she gave Melinda a hug. "But the traffic was just terrible."  
  
"It's okay," Melinda assured and stepped aside so that Tricia could come in. "Have you had dinner yet? There's plenty of food if you'd like to join us."  
  
"No, Tom is waiting for me at home," Tricia answered, referring to her husband. She stepped inside and turned around when she noticed that no one had followed her in. "Summer? Aren't you going to come in?"  
  
At first no one came in, but after nearly a minute Shannah and Sadie could see a girl with long hair standing on the doorstep. The girl stepped inside the manor and they got a better look at her.  
  
She was a teenager, probably fifteen or sixteen. She had long, brown hair that stopped a little over her elbow. The jeans she wore were very worn but still seemed trendy. She also wore a red shirt with long sleeves that hugged her figure. The girl looked up at Sadie and Shannah for a second, then lowered her gaze to her hands that carried her suitcase and an old bag.  
  
"Summer, you've grown," Melinda said, smiling. "You were so little the last time I saw you."  
  
She left out the part that last time she had seen Summer was at Summer's parents' funeral. Summer looked at Melinda and seemed neither sad or happy when she answered:  
  
"Thank you."  
  
Summer took another step and Melinda closed the door after her. Shannah hesitated at first, she felt like she had to say something to Summer but she didn't know what. She couldn't even ask if Summer needed help with the bags since she didn't even know where Melinda had planned for Summer to sleep.   
  
"Hi, I'm Shannah," she finally said and wanted to slap herself for sounding so nerdy. "Do you remember me?"  
  
Summer just nodded.  
  
"Would you like to have something to eat?" Melinda asked. "As I said, there's plenty of food."  
  
"No thanks," Summer answered politely. "I was just wondering.. if I could use the bathroom."  
  
"Of course," Shannah replied. "It's upstairs, I'll show you where it is."  
  
Summer nodded again. While she followed Shannah upstairs, Melinda, Tricia and Sadie went inside the sitting room. Tricia sighed and shook her head as she sat down on one of the couches.  
  
"I can't thank you enough, Melinda, for letting her stay here," Tricia said. Melinda sat down next to her. Sadie sat down on the other couch, curious why Tricia seemed so desperate. Even though Summer seemed way too quiet for a normal teenager, she didn't seem to be troublesome.  
  
"It's alright," Melinda assured. "It's not like Summer is a burden."  
  
"For me, she has been," Tricia said and sighed again. Sadie was surprised that she said that. "I know that it's unfair and mean of me to say that, but that's how I feel. Ever since she came to live with us... well, I've been worried that she'd end up like our aunt Paige."  
  
This made Sadie even more curious. Tricia was worried that Summer would end up like Paige Matthews?  
  
"Why were you worried about that?" Sadie questioned without thinking about it. Tricia didn't seem to mind that Sadie was asking.  
  
"She's been reading a lot about witchcraft..." Tricia told and looked down at her hands. "I caught her reading a book about it only weeks after she had moved in with us. And she never talks to me or Tom about anything. When we ask her about it she just says that it's none of our business. I can't handle her Melinda... I just can't."  
  
"It's alright," Melinda repeated. "We'll take care of her."  
  
"Don't worry, grandma," Shannah said as she entered the sitting room. She had returned downstairs directly after showing Summer the way to the bathroom, thinking that Summer could find the way downstairs. Tricia smiled at her other grandchild, who luckily was doing better than Summer. Tricia was about to ask Shannah how she was when she caught sight on the clock hanging on the wall.  
  
"Oh dear, it's late already," she said and got up. "Tom must have fallen asleep waiting for me. I have to go."  
  
"I'll walk you out," Melinda offered and got up too.  
  
"Shannah, Sadie, it was nice to see you again," Tricia called as she approached the door. Then she turned to her sister. "And thank you, Melinda, for helping me. Call me if anything happens and if Summer..."  
  
"You don't have to worry," Melinda cut off with a smile. "We will take care of Summer. Just take care of yourself and Tom."  
  
Tricia nodded and gave Melinda a last hug before opening the front door.  
  
"Bye grandma!" Shannah called as Tricia left the manor. Melinda remained on the doorstep and waved as Tricia got into her car and drove away from the manor. When she returned to the living room she found Sadie looking at the goldfish bowl.  
  
"Well then..." Sadie began. "I guess that this means no more freezing goldfishes for you."  
  
* * * *  
  
Summer had stayed upstairs because she knew what was going on downstairs. She didn't what they were talking about exactly, but she knew that they were talking about her. She hated walking right into a room where everyone would stop talking because of her. She hated many things. Instead she had found herself silently walking to the attic door.  
  
Whether it was by curiousity or something else Summer didn't know.  
  
She opened the attic door, expecting to find anything. The attic was bigger than the one in her grandparents' house and certainly had more interesting things. There were plenty of chairs, one of them was even hanging on the wall. There were desks as well. Boxes filled a corner of the attic and Summer could only imagine what was in them. There was an old bed, bookshelves, more chairs, low table. But what captured Summer was a large, thick book on an old fashioned music-stand.   
  
She walked over to the book and raised her brow in surprise as she saw the triquetra symbol on the front of the book. Curious, she started to flip through the pages of the book. Summer thought that what she found was almost unbelievable. Knowledge of demons, spells and rituals that had been collected during hundred of years, all gathered in this book.  
  
[Paige Matthews must have used this book,] Summer thought and kept looking through the book. She didn't know how much time she had spend on the attic when she started to hear voices from downstairs.   
  
"Where did she go?" It was Melinda's voice.  
  
"You don't think..." That was Shannah's.  
  
"The attic." Summer didn't recognize that third voice, but she figured that it belonged to Sadie.  
  
Summer didn't run or hide... she didn't even try to. There were many places to hide in the attic but for some reason she didn't try. She didn't even step away from the Book of Shadows. When Sadie came up to the attic she immediately saw Summer standing by the book. She didn't know what to say. Shannah and Melinda came shortly afterwards.  
  
"Summer, what are you doing?" Melinda asked, taking one step closer. Summer backed. She didn't want their eyes on her. She didn't want to be there.  
  
As Melinda took another step closer, Summer's body collapsed to the floor. Melinda gasped and rushed over to Summer's side. Shannah did the same thing. Sadie was the only one who noticed an exact copy of Summer materialising in the other side of the attic.  
  
"Summer, wake up!" Melinda said, shaking the unconsious Summer lightly. The other Summer was awake and standing. She looked at herself briefly in a confused way. By now both Melinda and Shannah had noticed the other Summer.  
  
"What the..." Shannah whispered to herself. The other Summer seemed just as confused as the others were. She looked at the unconsious Summer for a moment. Then she turned around and ran towards the door.  
  
"Wait!" Sadie called, trying to grab the other Summer's arm as she passed by but failed. Summer ran out of the attic with Sadie chasing after her. Shannah took a step to follow Sadie but then stopped herself. She knew that Sadie was a faster runner than her and would most likely do a better job catching the other Summer. Instead, Shannah turned to Melinda hoping for an explanation.  
  
"What just happened here?" Shannah asked. There were two Summers?"  
  
Melinda was silent. She had stopped shaking the unconsious Summer by now. Shannah took Melinda's silence as a sign that she was doing some thinking.  
  
"I think Summer astral projected," Melinda finally said. This caused Shannah to get even more confused.  
  
"I'm sorry, she what?"  
  
"Astral projected," Melinda repeated. "When I unbound my own powers, I didn't just unbind yours and Sadie's. I probably unbound the power of every descendant of the Charmed Ones. Summer's related to a Charmed One too. Astral projection was a power that my aunt Prue Halliwell had. It allows you to leave your physical body and it's triggered by the will to be in another place. Once you have astral projected, your body becomes very much like the way Summer is now."   
  
"Wow..." Shannah said and actually looked impressed with Melinda. "You've done some reading."  
  
"I'm a senior citizen, there's nothing else for me to do," Melinda retorted. "Help me get her up on the bed. I think she'll be more comfortable there."  
  
Shannah nodded. While Melinda grabbed Summer's arms, Shannah grabbed her legs and they put Summer up on the bed. Melinda quickly found a few pillows and put them under Summer's head while Shannah sat down and watched.  
  
"So... what do we do now?" she wondered. "Is there some sort of spell to get astral Summer back into her body."  
  
"No, I'm afraid not," Melinda answered. She sat down next to Shannah and looked at Summer. "We'll just have to wait until she returns on her own."  
  
* * *  
  
Almost an hour later Sadie dialed the number to the manor. Since she had chased Summer there was no time to grab her purse or anything. She had lost sight of Summer almost an hour ago and it had taken her time to find a phone booth. Luckily she had found a few coins in her pocket and she used them to call back home.  
  
Sadie had to wait for almost a minute before someone picked up the phone. For a moment she was afraid that something had happened because no one picked up the phone. But when Shannah's voice was heard she let out a sigh in relief.  
  
"Shannah, it's me," Sadie said. "I lost Summer."  
  
"That's alright," Shannah answered to Sadie's surprise. "Where are you? I'll drive you back to the manor."  
  
"And leave that Summer copy running around town?" Sadie questioned. "What are we going to do about that?"  
  
"I'll tell you later. Where are you?"  
  
Sadie was about to tell Shannah the address when the phone receiver gave a beeping sound. Either Shannah had hung up or the coins hadn't been enough. The last one seemed most likely to happen. Sadie hung up the phone and left the phone booth. Without hesitating she started to walk. The walk back to the manor would probably take over an hour, not to mention that she felt a little tired after running around looking for Summer. But what else could she do?  
  
The street and pavement were both empty, along with the park that Sadie walked along side. She looked at her watch, it was already 9.45 p.m. When she got home she would go and take a hot shower and then go to bed. But considering how long it would take to solve everything with Summer, Sadie started to give up hope on getting any sleep at all.  
  
A black Mercedes drove right past her. Sadie paid it little attention until she saw that it stopped just a few seconds after driving past her. Sadie slowed down, not knowing if it was good or not to walk past the car. Who knew what the driver was planning to do? Then she felt angry at her for being so paranoid. She was a witch, she was telekinetic. And besides, the driver was probably a normal person, just like her.  
  
[Then again...] Sadie thought, almost smiling to herself as she began to walk normally again. [I'm not normal.]  
  
As she approached the car she stopped again when the left car door opened. Reminding herself that it was a normal person, Sadie walked past her car.  
  
"Miss Harding?"  
  
That voice... Sadie turned around and once again found herself staring into the eyes of Orlando Rowe. She felt heart slamming hard and quick against her rib cage. Her mouth felt dry all of the sudden and she had no idea what to say.  
  
For a moment she doubted, was it really him? Sadie didn't have to doubt when he came closer to her. It really was Orlando. As he stood before her he put his hands into his pocket. Sadie noticed that the first three buttons of his shirt had been unbuttoned, revealing more of his skin... Sadie blushed and crossed her arms, standing in a defensive stance.  
  
"Mr Rowe..." she began.  
  
"Please, just call me Orlando," he cut off. He smiled and Sadie couldn't help returning it.  
  
"Orlando, then."  
  
"I didn't expect to find you here," Orlando said. "What are you doing here so late all alone?"  
  
"Walking home," Sadie replied without thinking. She quickly made up an excuse. "My friend was supposed to pick me up but I guess she forgot."  
  
"Well, I'm on my way home, would you like a ride?" Orlando offered.   
  
[Yes!] was Sadie's first thought. But then the logical part of herself started to resurface. She didn't know anything about Orlando except for his name and that he liked her articles. She didn't even know why he had been in the editorial office with Cutter. For all she knew he could be a psychopath, even a warlock!  
  
But there was something inside her. Something hadn't felt for years. Whatever it was it was what made her so nervous, made her unwilling to look at anything else but him.  
  
"I'd love to," Sadie answered. Before she had realised it she was sitting next to Orlando in his black Mercedes. Her fists were tightened again. Her nails dug into her palm and were going to leave marks.  
  
"Where do you live?" Orlando asked. Sadie was about to ask him why he wanted to know that when she remembered that he was going to drive her home. If she had been alone she would have slapped herself.  
  
"1329 Prescott Street," she answered and looked surprised when Orlando actually knew where it was.  
  
"My uncle stayed at Prescott Street once," he explained and said nothing more about it. Sadie didn't ask. The drive to the manor was mostly quiet, although Orlando asked a few questions about work a few times. Sadie answered them politely, careful not to say anything she wasn't supposed to say. She wanted to ask him what business he had with Cutter but didn't know how to ask. Before she knew it, Orlando parked the car just outside the manor.  
  
"Should I walk you to the door?" Orlando asked. Sadie shook her head and smiled.  
  
"It's okay," she replied. "I'll manage."  
  
Orlando laughed softly, but then just smiled at her. He lifted his hand and stroke Sadie's cheek. She shivvered at his touch but to her surprise she didn't pull away. Had it been someone else she would have. She looked into his eyes again and felt as if she had been put under a spell.  
  
"You're a Scorpio... aren't you?" Orlando asked. Sadie found it hard to concentrate on speaking with his hand carressing her cheek. Or to concentrate on anything at all. She drew a deep breath.  
  
"Close enough... I'm a Virgo..."  
  
Orlando stopped her from saying anything more by placing his thumb on her lips. It caused Sadie to become even more nervous. She tried to calm herself using her thoughts, but found that it was impossible to listen to herself since all that she could listen to was Orlando's voice.  
  
"Scorpio is the most powerful and passionate sign in the zodiac," Orlando went on. "You should have been born a Scorpio, Sadie."  
  
In the mix of the many emotions she felt at that moment she didn't even register the fact that he had called her by her first name. For a moment Sadie thought that he was going to lean forth and kiss her. She felt blood rushing inside her, his warm hand on her cheek and his thumb on her lips.  
  
"You don't know me..." Orlando whispered, as if knowing what she was thinking. His voice wasn't harsh or cold, but just a little quiet when he spoke.  
  
"And you don't know me..." Sadie replied. It was the only thing that she could say. Orlando withdrew his hand slowly from her cheek. Sadie felt cold when she lost contact with him. Orlando smiled vaguely towards her and Sadie blushed. She unbuckled her seat belt.  
  
"I have to go," she said quietly. "Thanks for the ride."  
  
"You're welcome," Orlando replied. Sadie opened the car door and stepped out. Just before she was going to close she heard him say something.  
  
"I'll see you again, Sadie."  
  
It wasn't a promise. The way Orlando spoke made it sound like a... fact. Sadie smiled in return, feeling warm on inside her again.  
  
"I know."  
  
After she had closed the car door, she turned around and started to walk up to the front door. Sadie noticed that Orlando didn't drive away until she had reached the door. She was surprised to find that the door was unlocked but remembered that she had probably been the last one who had left the house.  
  
Once Sadie was inside she locked the front door. Then she leaned against the door and closed her eyes. She could still feel Orlando's hand carressing her check, thoughts about him refused to go away.  
  
She was so deep in thought that she didn't even notice Shannah coming down the stairs.  
  
"You're back!" Shannah called out. "Melinda told me that Summer astral projected, which means that she can move outside her physical body, so that means that the..."  
  
Shannah was about to continue to tell Sadie all the details when she noticed that Sadie wasn't listening to her.  
  
"Sadie? Hello?" Shannah said. She poked Sadie's shoulder carefully. Sadie opened her eyes, but didn't change her position.  
  
"What's wrong with you?" Shannah wondered. "You're acting a little strange."  
  
Sadie just smiled mysteriously.  
  
* * * *  
  
Summer had gone where no one expected her to be. The cementry. After running away from Sadie, she had been too exhausted to go anywhere else. She wasn't sure of what had happened back at the manor, but all she knew that if she concentrated hard enough on staying in the place she was, then she didn't have to return to her physical body.  
  
Now, she sat before the graves of her parents. She felt sorrow when she looked at the graves, but not the overwhelming sorrow she had felt six years ago when they had died. Her parents were dead, she had accepted that years ago.  
  
"So... what brings you here?"  
  
Summer looked up and saw a boy at her age standing next to her. He was brown haired, by his hair was lighter than hers and cut short. His eyes were intense blue, resembling the color on his sweater. The boy sat down next to her.  
  
"Who are you?" Summer questioned.  
  
"I'm Hayden," the boy answered without hesitating. "A male witch. What about your name? Are you a witch?"  
  
Summer found Hayden's questions a little too suspicious. She got up and backed away from him.  
  
"What do you want?"  
  
"Nothing," Hayden replied. He didn't even bother to get up. "I'm just curious, that's all. I sense witch blood inside of you. When I astral project I usually come here where it's peaceful. I was just thinking that you did the same."  
  
Hayden spoke in such a natural way that it was hard to believe that he was lying. But why someone would talk about these kind of things so freely Summer had no idea.  
  
"You're astral projecting too, aren't you?" Hayden asked. "I can sense it."  
  
Summer was still silent. The truth was that she was thinking to herself more than being suspicious of Hayden. Astral projection... why hadn't she remembered that?  
  
"At least give me your name," Hayden said. "Or sit down, I won't bite."  
  
Summer remained standing for a while. Then she sat down but was sure to keep some distance between her and Hayden.  
  
"Summer," she murmured. "Not the season... it's my name."  
  
* * * *  
  
Melinda had almost fallen asleep waiting for Summer's astral self to return to her physical body. When she heard the sound of something moving, Melinda opened her eyes and forced herself to stay awake. Her lips curved into a smile when she saw that Summer was sitting up.  
  
Summer looked around and found herself lying on the bed in the attic. Melinda got up from the chair she had been sitting on and walked over to Summer. She gave Summer a hug.  
  
"I'm so glad you're back," Melinda said and then released Summer who looked a little dazed and confused. "Do you remember what happened?"  
  
Summer nodded slowly. "I... astral projected."  
  
"So you know..." Melinda said slowly. Summer looked at Melinda and didn't know why Melinda had a sad look in her eyes.  
  
"What is it?" she wondered. But Melinda just shook her head and gently pushed Summer down on the bed. Then she went to grab a few covers she had placed on a chair hours ago.  
  
"I'll tell you all about it in the morning," Melinda answered and put the covers of Summer. "You must be tired."  
  
"I am," Summer replied, relaxing. It felt good to be lying in the bed. The bed was comfortable, it almost felt like the bed she had had when her parents had been alive. She fell asleep only a few moments later. Despite how tired Melinda felt, she stayed for another few hours to watch over Summer.  
  
It wasn't until Shannah came up and convinced her to go to bed that she left the attic. Melinda didn't turn the lights off in the attic on purpose. 


End file.
